Crime

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2009,  Official Report, column 185W, on crime, how many incidents of street drinking were recorded in each police force area in 2007-08.

Alan Johnson: The Home Office does not centrally collect data on incidents of street drinking. You may wish to view the data on consumption within a Designated Public Place Order (DPPO) which is provided in the table.
	Within a DPPO area it is not an offence to consume alcohol. The offence is committed when a person, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement of a police constable to refrain from consuming alcohol (Section 12 (4) of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001).
	The number of PNDs issued for failure to comply with a requirement by a constable within a Designated Public Place Order are as follows:
	485 in 2004, 712 in 2005, 1,061 in 2006 and 1,544 in 2007.
	Data for 2008 will be available in autumn 2009.
	
		
			  Nu mber of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts, found guilty, and issued with a level 2 fine( 1)  at all courts for offences relating to the Police Reform Act 2002 Sch.4 Para.5 (Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 S.12). Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 in England and Wales, 2003 - 07( 2,3,4) 
			  Fine amount( 5) 
			   Proceeded against  Found guilty  Total fines  Fines up to £200  Fines over £200 and up to £500 
			 2003 108 94 73 72 — 
			 2004 122 96 78 78 — 
			 2005 101 76 63 62 1 
			 2006 101 73 59 59 — 
			 2007 113 98 76 75 1 
			 (1) A 'level 2' fine does not specify a minimum fine amount, only the statutory maximum for the given offence; therefore all fines in the above table could be classed as 'level 2' fines. There are a number of factors including the defendants' ability to pay that will affect the courts' decision to impose a fine and fine amounts should not solely be taken as an indication of the seriousness of the offence or offender. (2) These data are on the principal offence basis. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) Includes the following statutes and corresponding offence descriptions: Police Reform Act 2002 Sch.4 Para.5 (Criminal Justice & Police Act 2001 S.12). Criminal Justice & Police Act 2001 S12. Contravene a community support officers' requirement not to consume liquor. Penalty offence under S.1 Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001—alcohol consumption in designated public places. (5) Following quality assurance checks, one fine amount in 2003 has been removed. This amount was greater than the maximum permissible fine. Therefore the number of fines and the fine amount totals in 2003 will not match each other.  Source: OCJR—E & A: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit

DNA: Databases

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 10 July 2008,  Official Report, columns 1767-8W, on genetics: databases, what proportion of DNA records of people  (a) arrested but not charged for an offence,  (b) arrested, charged but not convicted of an offence and  (c) arrested, charged and convicted of an offence have resulted in matches with crime scene profiles.

Alan Campbell: As the National DNA Database does not hold data on whether those with records on it have been charged or convicted, the information requested is not available.

Entry Clearances

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visa applications from  (a) Pakistan and  (b) Afghanistan have been rejected by the Abu Dhabi hub after being forwarded for clearance by the entry clearance officers in Islamabad (i) in each of the last five years and (ii) since 27 October 2008.

Alan Johnson: No visa applications were forwarded by entry clearance officers in Islamabad to the visa section in Abu Dhabi for assessment before 27 October 2008. Between 27 October 2008 and 31 May 2009, 18,036 of the applications that have been forwarded from Pakistan have been refused. These include applications from both Pakistani and Afghan nationals.
	These figures do not constitute part of National Statistics as they are based on internal management information. The information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols, should be treated as provisional and is subject to change.

Entry Clearances: Afghanistan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visa applications for entry into the UK have been made in Afghanistan  (a) in each of the last five years and  (b) since 27 October 2008.

Alan Johnson: There is no visa application centre in Afghanistan, nor has there been one in the past five years.

Entry Clearances: Pakistan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visa applications have been checked for fraud by entry clearance officers in Islamabad  (a) in each of the last five years and  (b) since 27 October 2008.

Alan Johnson: All visa applications have been checked for fraud in the last five years.
	Prior to 27 October 2008, Entry Clearance Officers in Pakistan conducted passport forgery checks in all cases that had been approved for issue and document verification teams augmented this by checking supporting documents. Since 27 October 2008 the passport forgery check has been extended to all applications and supporting document verification takes place in over 80 per cent. of applications.

Entry Clearances: Pakistan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visa applications for entry into the UK have been made in Pakistan in  (a) each of the last five years and  (b) since 27 October 2008.

Alan Johnson: The number of visa applications for entry to the UK that have been lodged in Pakistan since 1 January 2004 are as follows:
	
		
			   Visa applications lodged in Pakistan 
			 2004 188,855 
			 2005 168,019 
			 2006 204,049 
			 2007 175,966 
			 2008 (1 January to 26 October) 132,855 
			 27 October 2008 to 31 May 2009 66,415 
		
	
	These figures do not constitute part of National Statistics as they are based on internal management information. The information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols, should be treated as provisional and is subject to change.

Firearms: Crime

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 21 April 2009,  Official Report, column 593W, on firearms: crime, how many firearms offences (excluding those involving air weapons) were recorded in each police force area in England and Wales in each year since 1998.

Alan Johnson: Available data relate to offences recorded in the period 1998-99 up to and including 2007-08, and are shown in the following table. Data for the period 2003-04 to 2007-08 by police force area were published in table 2.12 of "Homicides, Firearm Offences and Intimate Violence 2007-08", an internet-only Home Office Statistical Bulletin available at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/hosb0209.pdf
	Firearms are taken to be involved in a crime if they are fired, used as a blunt instrument against a person, or used as a threat.
	The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002. Data for the years up to and including 2001-02 are not directly comparable with those for later years.
	
		
			  Crimes recorded by the police in which firearms (including air weapons) were reported to have been used( 1)  by region and police force area: England and Wales, 1998-99 to 2007-08 
			  Recorded crime 
			   Number of offences 
			  Police force area  1998-99( 2)  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02( 3)  2002-03( 4)  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			  North East Region   
			 Cleveland 20 26 16 24 18 45 37 41 19 15 
			 Durham 13 40 18 19 16 15 21 18 14 45 
			 Northumbria 76 107 99 86 103 169 182 137 111 78 
			
			  North West Region   
			 Cheshire 32 22 44 50 31 44 61 71 41 59 
			 Cumbria 11 5 13 9 13 11 26 18 21 18 
			 Greater Manchester 647 875 935 1,361 1,240 1,275 1,268 1,200 993 1,160 
			 Lancashire 50 78 59 103 66 58 259 372 364 349 
			 Merseyside 286 240 278 299 318 483 491 485 410 398 
			
			  Yorkshire and the Humber Region   
			 Humberside 76 61 69 63 68 68 174 108 117 58 
			 North Yorkshire 11 8 9 28 18 23 13 15 14 17 
			 South Yorkshire 75 114 129 170 153 127 185 301 211 202 
			 West Yorkshire 193 191 335 332 333 269 318 355 319 332 
			
			  East Midlands Region   
			 Derbyshire 52 65 72 58 73 75 149 109 83 70 
			 Leicestershire 98 71 58 74 174 141 123 89 109 134 
			 Lincolnshire 16 19 24 22 37 26 90 72 45 41 
			 Northamptonshire 54 48 40 55 107 123 113 128 159 164 
			 Nottinghamshire 112 173 157 204 264 233 303 277 196 240 
			
			  West Midlands Region   
			 Staffordshire 23 53 108 116 131 108 144 128 94 123 
			 Warwickshire 20 14 39 53 62 102 73 80 90 107 
			 West Mercia 38 36 41 54 48 62 151 115 58 124 
			 West Midlands 407 664 817 1,288 1,101 1,138 959 946 979 974 
			
			  East of England Region   
			 Bedfordshire 46 56 48 82 86 89 94 103 86 83 
			 Cambridgeshire 35 43 31 49 57 34 50 34 24 30 
			 Essex 47 61 77 98 148 145 193 280 255 260 
			 Hertfordshire 30 36 36 69 139 138 139 114 89 112 
			 Norfolk 34 24 20 26 36 33 23 29 34 43 
			 Suffolk 15 18 22 15 28 45 59 58 42 38 
			
			 London Region(5) 2,034 2,945 3,036 4,199 4,202 3,891 3,697 3,884 3,331 3,399 
			
			  South East Region   
			 Hampshire 38 52 49 58 97 130 148 85 122 100 
			 Kent 76 109 108 60 64 65 100 142 92 82 
			 Surrey 35 42 52 40 34 88 63 87 60 70 
			 Sussex 115 119 110 155 136 82 67 85 84 69 
			 Thames Valley 96 107 198 267 362 421 437 401 332 322 
			
			  South West Region   
			 Avon and Somerset 71 103 100 131 119 123 196 167 138 116 
			 Devon and Cornwall 75 81 64 52 36 84 189 174 132 111 
			 Dorset 11 12 14 34 17 45 49 27 28 21 
			 Gloucestershire 22 21 23 89 92 108 87 77 65 43 
			 Wiltshire 19 10 13 26 60 53 49 43 69 49 
			
			  Wales   
			 Dyfed-Powys 16 13 26 26 17 37 40 21 17 25 
			 Gwent 26 19 11 18 52 74 85 53 33 47 
			 North Wales 26 10 6 6 18 11 60 88 98 53 
			 South Wales 31 52 67 56 74 47 104 71 67 84 
			
			 England and Wales 5,209 6,843 7,471 10,024 10,248 10,338 11,069 11,088 9,645 9,865 
			
			 England and Wales (excluding London region) 3,175 3,898 4,435 5,825 6,046 6,447 7,372 7,204 6,314 6,466 
			 (1) Firearms are taken to be involved in a crime if they are fired, used as a blunt instrument against a person or used as a threat. (2) There was a change in the counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998. (3) Figures for some crime categories may have been inflated by some police forces implementing the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard before 1 April 2002. (4) The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002, which may have resulted in inflated figures for some crime categories. Figures before and after this date are not directly comparable. (5) City of London and Metropolitan police force areas.

Human Trafficking

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 29 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 1087-88W, on human trafficking, how many  (a) arrests and  (b) convictions there were for human trafficking offences in each police force area in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: It is not possible to break down the arrest and convictions for each of the last five years.
	Figures from the UKHTC indicate that since the inception of the dedicated legislation, there have been a total of 568 arrests for human trafficking offences which have resulted in a total of 114 convictions. The figures for the number of arrests which are set out by force area below include 100 cases on which the outcome is not yet known.
	
		
			   Arrests  Convictions 
			 Avon and Somerset 0 0 
			 Bedfordshire 7 1 
			 Cambridgeshire 23 0 
			 Cheshire 2 1 
			 Cleveland 3 0 
			 Cumbria 1 0 
			 Derbyshire 11 0 
			 Devon and Cornwall 8 3 
			 Dorset 3 1 
			 Durham 1 1 
			 Dyfed-Powys 2 0 
			 Essex 11 0 
			 Gloucestershire 7 0 
			 Greater Manchester 63 8 
			 Gwent 2 0 
			 Hampshire 14 1 
			 Hertfordshire 6 0 
			 Humberside 1 0 
			 Kent 7 4 
			 Lancashire 18 6 
			 Leicestershire 15 3 
			 Lincolnshire 2 0 
			 Metropolitan 129 43 
			 City of London 0 0 
			 Merseyside 0 0 
			 Norfolk 5 0 
			 Northamptonshire 11 0 
			 Northumbria 7 1 
			 North Wales 3 0 
			 North Yorkshire 8 0 
			 Nottinghamshire 17 0 
			 South Wales 20 6 
			 South Yorkshire 22 10 
			 Staffordshire 4 0 
			 Suffolk 9 0 
			 Surrey 8 3 
			 Sussex 27 0 
			 Thames Valley 9 4 
			 Warwickshire 5 5 
			 West Mercia 9 3 
			 West Midlands 44 5 
			 West Yorkshire 14 5 
			 Wiltshire 6 0 
			 BTP 4 0

Written Questions: Government Responses

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to answer Question 266584, tabled on 25 March 2009, on public service agreement targets.

Liam Byrne: I have replied to the hon. Member.

Nuclear Weapons

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 20 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1344W, on USA: military alliances, on what date and at which location the June 2009 Stocktake meeting between the Government and the US administration under the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement is scheduled to take place; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the programme for the meeting.

Quentin Davies: The 33rd meeting of the UK/US Stocktake was held in the Ministry of Defence, Main Building, Whitehall, London on Tuesday 9 June. The programme comprised discussions on nuclear threat reduction, warhead, and platform issues, together with a consideration of potential future exchanges.
	I am withholding a copy of the programme for the purpose of safeguarding national security.

Departmental Conditions of Employment

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 22 May 2009,  Official Report, column 1489W, on departmental conditions of employment, what timetable he has set for the consideration of the standardisation of processes in areas such as travel and subsistence claims and annual performance.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport is considering standardisation of human resource processes and detailed work on initial key areas, such as developing e-recruitment, is under way.
	The specific issues identified by the National Audit Office as needing addressing in the medium-term, including the approach to travel and subsistence claims and annual performance appraisals, are not yet planned in detail. Specific timetables to address these have not yet been scheduled.

Royal Family: Travel

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 15 June 2009,  Official Report, column 15W, on Royal Family: travel, what steps his Department takes to assess whether travel arrangements proposed by the Royal Travel Office and Royal Household  (a) achieve value for money and  (b) minimise environmental impact before providing funding for them.

Paul Clark: Decisions on air and rail travel arrangements for members of the royal family are taken by the royal travel office with regard to agreed criteria, including the need to achieve value for money and minimise the environmental impact.
	The royal household seeks to contract in the most economic and efficient way for the supply of air and rail services, consistent with the safety and security of members of the royal family and other key requirements of royal travel. The royal household ensures it takes financial considerations fully into account when framing, reaching, or giving effect to decisions which bear upon the royal travel grant in aid budget.

Prisoners Release: Reoffenders

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 20 April 2009,  Official Report, column 346, on prisoners release: re-offenders, when he expects to have re-offending data in respect of offenders who are subject to a home detention curfew.

Jack Straw: I apologise to the hon. Member that the audit process has taken longer than anticipated. The data will be available before summer recess, when I will write to the hon. Member, placing a copy of the reply in the Library.

Prisons: West Lancashire

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the Answer of 1 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 82-3W, on prisons: construction, by what process  (a) the National Offender Management Service and  (b) his Department were made aware of the potential site for a Titan prison at Scarisbrick; which location in Scarisbrick was identified as a potential site; what information his Department holds on the present owner of the site; on what date his Department designated the site at Scarisbrick as a potential location for a Titan prison; and by whom that decision was taken.

Jack Straw: In early 2008, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) commissioned site search agents to identify potential sites for "Titan" prisons in various parts of the country, including the North West.
	Among the sites identified in the North-West was a 200 acre golf course at Southport Road, Scarisbrick, L40 8HB. This site was identified on 13 May 2008 by our site search agents but was considered unsuitable by them, an assessment that was subsequently endorsed by NOMS on 16 May 2008. The reason for this was that a golf course in a rural location did not meet the specific requirement for a site close to an urban conurbation with good transport links.
	We do not hold information on the current owners of the site as it was rejected at a very early stage of the assessment process.

Somalia: Piracy

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2009,  Official Report, column 1425W, when the next meeting of Working Group 1 of the Contact Group on Piracy off the coast of Somalia will be; and what matters will be discussed at the meeting.

Ivan Lewis: Working Group 1 met informally on 10 June 2009 in the margins of the Seoul High-Level Meeting on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia. It discussed regional capability development priorities with the representatives of regional countries and other international partners. The next formal meeting is planned to take place in London on 10 July 2009. The meeting is likely again to focus predominantly on regional capability development needs and priorities, although an agenda is yet to be finalised.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the answer of 17 November 2008,  Official Report, column 244W, on Ministerial policy advisers, how much was spent on severance payments to special advisers in each year prior to 2007-08 for which records are held.

Angela Smith: Since 2002-03, the Government have published information about the numbers and cost of special advisers, including the cost of severance payments. The total cost of severance payments to special advisers in each year from 2002-03 to 2006-07 is set out as follows.
	
		
			   £ 
			 2002-03 92,686 
			 2003-04 85,329 
			 2004-05 78,624 
			 2005-06 955,895 
			 2006-07 171,521 
		
	
	As has been the practice of successive administrations, severance payments to special advisers are made in line with the contractual provisions set out in the "Model Contract for Special Advisers".

Apprentices: Local Government

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 11 May 2009,  Official Report, column 599W, on apprentices: local government, how many  (a) apprentices and  (b) advanced apprentices are employed by each local authority.

Kevin Brennan: We do not hold centrally data on the number of apprentices employed by each local authority. The Government are committed to developing and expanding apprenticeships in the public sector and earlier this year Cabinet colleagues announced plans for the expansion of the apprenticeships scheme across the public sector. We announced a £140 million package to deliver 35,000 extra places this year of which 21,000 would be in the public sector.

Chemistry: GCE A-level

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1073W, on GCE A-level, how many and what percentage of the 187 schools that did not enter any pupils for an A-level in chemistry in 2006-07 entered at least one pupil for an A-level in applied science in that year.

Vernon Coaker: Of the 187 maintained mainstream schools that did not enter any pupils for an A-level in chemistry in 2006/07, 22 (12 per cent.) entered at least one candidate for a single or double award A-level in applied science in the same year.

Children In Care: Missing Persons

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2009,  Official Report, column 1067W, how many of the children who have gone missing from care have not been found;
	(2)  what steps the Government is taking to reduce the number of children who go missing from care homes.

Dawn Primarolo: Following a consultation, the Government plan to publish revised statutory guidance about children missing from home or care shortly. This will set out the steps that must be followed whenever any child in care goes missing. This includes the local authority working with partner agencies such as the police, so that there is a systematic response whenever a child in care goes missing from their care placement.
	The National Minimum Standards for Children's Homes and Fostering Services require that all homes and fostering services should have explicit procedures to follow when children in their care may be missing or absent. We will be strengthening these Standards later this year and will include more specific guidance on action which should be taken when a child goes missing from a residential or foster home.
	The Government have also launched the Young Runaways Action Plan. This brings together cross Government action on children who run away from home or care and places particular emphasis on vulnerable children such as those who have been trafficked. More generally, a national indicator on young runaways, introduced in April this year, now requires LAs to have in place protocols for the inter-agency response to run-aways and missing children, including preventative measures.
	The requested information on the number of children who have gone missing from care who have not been found is not held centrally by the Department. It is not possible to derive the number of children missing from care who have never been found, because we can only account for the situation at the end of the last completed data collection year. Children missing at the end of the data year may subsequently return into care. Information on looked after children can be found in "Statistical First Release Children looked after in England (including adoption and care leavers) year ending 31 March 2008", which is available on the Department's website via the following link:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000810/index.shtml
	Table A3 shows the number looked after at 31 March each year by their placement type at 31 March, which includes a category to show those looked after who were absent from their agreed placement at that time. At 31 March 2008, the number absent from their agreed placement was 150.

Schools: Standards

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 2 June 2009,  Official Report, column 442W, on schools: standards, what the name is of each adviser; and how much each has cost in 2008-09.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 15 June 2009
	We do not have information on each individual adviser, or their cost, and to collect this information would involve disproportionate cost and contravene data protection rules.
	The figure of around £90 million, given in the answer of 2 June, is an estimate of the total cost of field forces which provide support and challenge to local authorities and children's trusts across the full range of children's outcomes. The largest field force supporting school standards is the national strategies and the cost of their national and regional field force in 2008-09 was around £30 million. However, this includes work on other areas such as early years and school behaviour.

Specialist Schools: Science

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the answer of 10 November 2008,  Official Report, column 900W, on specialist schools: science, how many of the 433 specialist schools which had chosen science as a specialism at the time of that answer entered one or more pupils for GCSE chemistry in 2008.

Vernon Coaker: Of all 433 schools with a specialism in sciences, 311 (71.8 per cent.) entered at least one pupil for GCSE(1) chemistry in 2008.
	The source for this answer is the Achievement and Attainment Tables' database.
	(1) Only full GCSEs have been counted.

Teachers: Males

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  in which wards there are no primary schools with a qualified male teacher;
	(2)  pursuant to his letter of correction of 4 December 2008 to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham, Deposited Paper DEP2008-2997, to the answer of 28 October 2008,  Official Report, column 596W, on teachers: males, how many primary schools with no qualified male teachers there were in each ward in 2008.

Vernon Coaker: A table that provides the names of Census Area Statistic (CAS) wards that have nursery or primary schools without any full or part-time male qualified teacher and the number of schools in each of these to which this applies has been placed in the House Libraries. The information is for January 2008.